(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to communications between a telephone central office and a private branch exchange and more particularly to a billing interface arrangement for automatically requesting time and charge information.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Presently, hotels and motels provide their guests with telephone stations located in their room. Commonly, a private branch exchange connects all the stations of the hotel or motel to a telephone central office for switching through the telephone system. The telephone service provided by the hotels and motels must be capable of handling long distance and toll calls.
Presently, the hotels and motels supplying this toll service must either lease expensive equipment or provide an attendant to place and monitor these calls. Presently, an attendant must detect the guest's station making a call for service. The attendant must determine that the calling station is to make a toll call and ring the toll operator located at the telephone central office. When the toll operator has answered the attendant must request that the operator provide the attendant with the time and charges allocated to the present call. Such a system requires much valuable time of a hotel or motel attendant. Therefore, automating this function is highly desirable.
A complex solution to this problem is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,769, issued on Mar. 20, 1973, to E. W. Krock et al and U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,912, issued on Nov. 18, 1975 to H. P. Anderson et al. The above patents teach the use of complex electronic circuitry in order to automate the billing function for a private branch exchange associated with a large-size hotel or motel system.
For small or rural motels such a solution is not economical. A simple self-contained unit is highly desirable.
Therefore it is the object of the present invention to provide an automated billing interface arrangement for toll calling stations of a small motel private branch exchange.
It is an important object of the present invention to provide the automated billing function mentioned in an economical fashion for use by small motels or in rural areas.